Steam-boiler feeder.



PATENTED AUG. 9, 1904.

L. G. PARKER. STEAM BOILER FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.12, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

WWW

UNITED STATEs lat'ented August 9, 1904..

PATENT OEEIcE.

STEAM-BOILER FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,894, dated August 9, 1904.

Application filed October 12, 1903. Serial No. 176.707. (N models To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEwIs C. PARK ER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit,in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful improvements in Steam-Boiler Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to steam-boiler feeders; and it consists in the novel copstruction and arrangement of its parts, as hereinafter described.

The object of the invention is to provide a steam-boiler feeder of simple and cheap construction and one that is positive and automatic in its operation.

The essential features of the device are a tank provided with a counterbalance-weight, a trunnion supporting said tank and forming a water inlet and outlet therefor, a steam connection entering said trunnion and having a swiveled portion entering the tank through the trunnion, and suitable valves operated by the oscillatory movement of the trunnion for opening and closing the tank-vent and the steam connection.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of the steam-boiler feeder, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, partly in section; and Fig. 3 is a verti cal sectional View of the valve located on the steam connection and the operating mechanism therefor.

This steam-boiler feeder is adapted to be located in an elevated position with relation to the boiler. (Not shown in the drawings.) The standards 1 1 are provided at their upper ends with the bearings 2. the trunnion 3 resting in said bearings. Said trunnion is of a peculiar construction, consisting of two parts 4: and 5. The said part 1 is substantially solid through out and is adapted to oscillate, while the part 5 is cylindrical and hollow and is held in a fixed position in the bearing 2. At the point where the sections t and 5 come together they telescope, as at 6, and a stuiiing-box 7 is provided for the purpose of making a tight joint. The tank 8 is rigidly fixed by means of the arms 9 and 10 to the section 4 of the trunnion. Said tank is cylindrical in shape and its longitudinal axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the said trunnion. The vent 11 enters the upper side of the tank 8 at one end and at its other end enters the section 1 of the trunnion 3, the said section being provided with a channel 12, with which the said vent 11 connects. The section 4 is also provided with a sliding gate-valve 1.3, which is adapted to open and close the said channel 12. The lever 14 is pivoted at one end to the said valve 13 and is fulcrumed at the point 15 in the valve-casing 16. The free end of said lever passes between the fingers 17 i7, which are rigidly secured to the standard 1. The uprights 18 18 are erected at each end of the tank 8 and are connected together at their upper ends by the cross-bar 19. The lever 20 is fulcrumed to said crossbar and is connected at one end by means of the link 21 with the lug 22, attached to the tank 8. The free end of said lever is provided with an adjustable weight 23, which is located above the trunnion 3.

The arm 10, which supports one end of the tank 8, is hollow and communicates with the hollow interior of the section 5 of the trunnion 3. In'miediately opposite the end of the hollow arm 10 the sectiont of the trunnion 3 is provided with an opening .2 1, which is normally closed by the plate 25. The Water-inlet pipe 26 is attached to the section 5 of the trunnion 3, said pipe being provided with a check-valve 27, and the water-outlet pipe 28 is also connected to the section 5 of the trunnion 3 and provided with a checlcvalve 29. Said pipe 28 is adapted to be connected to the steam-boiler. (Not shown in the drawings.)

The steam-pipe 80 enters the end of the section 5 of the trunnion 3. Said steam-pipe 30 is stationary; but it is provided with the swiveled end portion 31, which extends from the trunnion through the arm 10 into the tank 8.. The said swiveled portion 31 maybe provided with a lug 32, which bears against the solid portion of the section 1- of the trunnion The opening 24 is provided in the said section 1 of the trunnion 3 in order that the swiveled portion 31 may be inserted in the parts, as shown, and the end of the steam-pipe 30 is then slipped into the end of the swiveled portion 31. Thus the parts may be easily and readily assembled. The steampipe 30 is provided with a sliding gate-valve 33, to which is pivoted one end of the lever 3 L, said lever being fulcrumed at the point 35 in the valvecasing 36, the free end of said lever resting between the fingers 37, attached to the section 1 of the trunnion 3.

The operation of the device is as follows: WVhen the tank 8 is empty, the Weight 23, operating through the lever 20, link 21, and lug 22, will hold the tank 8 in an elevated position. Water is then admitted through the pipe 26 into the section 5 of the trunnion 3. The wa ter then passes through the hollow arm 10 into the tank 8. The air or steam, as the case may be, which is confined in the tank 8 passes out through the vent 11 into the channel 12 of the section 4 of the trunnion 3 and passes the gate-valve 13, which, as can be seen, is always open when the tank 8 is elevated. As the tank 8 fills the weight of the Water overcomes the weight 23 and the tank 8 descends, causing the trunnion 3 to describe an oscillation. This oscillatory movement closes the gate-valve 13 and opens the gate-valve 33, which permits live steam to pass through the pipe 30 and the swiveled portion 31 into the tank 8, thus equalizing the pressure within the tank 8 with that of the boiler from which the said steam is conducted. Consequently the water in the tank 8 will by gravity flow through the hollow arm 10, thence through the section 5 of the trunnion 3. and through the pipe 28 into the boiler. Thus the water in the boiler may be maintained at a fixed level by connecting the steam-pipe 30 at said desired level.

It will be observed that the feeder is automatic in its operation, and that the valve 33 is automatically open when the tank 8 descends and is automatically closed when it ascends, and that the valve 13 is automatically open when the tank 8 ascends and automatically closed when the said tank descends.

The advantage of providing the pipe 30 with a swiveled end portion 31 is that the said pipe 30 may be maintained in a stationary position, which preserves steam-tight joints, while the swiveled end 31 moves with the tank 8 and conducts the steam into said tank.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trunnioned tank, a water inlet and outlet communicating with the interior of the tank through the trunnion, a steam connection having a swiveled portion entering the tank through the trunnion and water inlet and outlet, and a means for opening and closing the steam connection by the oscillatory movement of the trunnion.

2. A trunnioned tank, a water inlet and outlet communicating With the interior of the tank through the trunnion, a steam connection having a swiveled portion entering the tank and adapted to move independently of the tank, a means for opening and closing the steam connection by the oscillatory movement of the, trunnion.

3. A trunnioned tank, a water inlet and outlet communicating with the interior of the tank, a steam connection having a swiveled portion entering the tank through the trunnion, said trunnion having a lateral exterior opening for the admission of said swiveled portion, and a means for opening and closing the steam connection by the oscillatory movement of the trunnion.

1. A trunnioned tank having a water inlet and outlet, a steam-pipe leading into said tank and terminating below the high-water level thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub: scribing witnesses.

LEWIS C. PARKER.

lVitnesses A. E. GLAscooK, A. KAUFMAN. 

